LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -October 29, 2005- Fredericktown, Missouri’s Tim Montgomery left Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway more than $16,000 wealthier after topping Saturday night’s 40-lap championship finale of the 18th Annual Team Affiliated Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires.

Montgomery’s biggest payday, the posted $15,000 winner’s share was bolstered by a $1,000 bonus from Huggins Cams. Montgomery’s total take for the night was $16,200 including his third-place Pack’s Dash for Cash earnings.

Montgomery slipped around Kevin Swindell to take command on the 15th round then withstood a late charge from the 16-year-old to take the checkered flag with a four car-length advantage aboard the Wesmar-powered Donnie Cooper Enterprises No. 01 Maxim. While it was Montgomery’s first Short Track Nationals crown, it was car owner Cooper’s second win in four years with Paul McMahan also winning for Cooper in 2002.

“I’ve driven for Donnie (Cooper) before and we hooked up again late this season and we’ve done really well,” the happy victor explained in victory lane. “Donnie gives me a really good car to drive, it makes it a lot easier to win with this equipment. This is definitely the biggest win I’ve ever had.” Montgomery gridded the feature field inside the second row behind Pack’s Dash for Cash winner Jason Johnson and runner-up Gary Wright. Swindell was to Montgomery’s outside, with Shane Stewart and Thursday prelim winner Daryn Pittman in the third row.

Johnson outgunned Wright for the point at the drop of the green, with Swindell disposing of Wright for second on the second lap. Swindell began pressuring Johnson for the lead after just four laps and after trading several sliders, Swindell took command on the seventh round.

As Swindell and Johnson diced for the lead, Montgomery overtook Wright for third on the sixth round with Pittman following suit a lap later. While Swindell set the pace, Montgomery reeled in Johnson and took the runner-up slot on the tenth round.

Montgomery then wasted little time reeling in the young Swindell, challenging on the low side of turn two on the 14th lap then making it stick the next time around to take a lead he would never relinquish.

Moments after Montgomery took over the lead, the race’s first caution flew when 15-year-old Hunter Schuerenberg coasted to a halt on the front stretch with mechanical woes. Schuerenberg rejoined the fray after a quick visit to the work area.

Back under way, Montgomery stretched his advantage to ten car-lengths by the time lapped traffic came into play on the 23rd circuit. Bogged down in heavy traffic, Swindell and the battling duo of Pittman and Johnson were reeling the leader in when the race’s second and final caution flew after 31 laps for Eric Schrock’s turn two off-track excursion.

Montgomery took off again on the restart and held a safe lead until encountering more lapped traffic with just two laps remaining. Swindell tried to close the gap and snare the prestigious win in the process, but fell just four car-lengths short as the checkered flag flew upon Montgomery for the second night in a row.

Pittman battled past Johnson to secure the show position in the final rounds, with Johnson settling for fourth at the stripe. Running seventh at the midway point, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., battled past Shane Stewart for sixth by the 30th lap then took the fifth position from Wright on the lap 32 restart, holding the position the rest of the way.

Wright’s bid for an unprecedented third consecutive STN win came up short as he crossed the stripe sixth. Stewart was seventh, with Jesse Hockett, Darren Stewart and Nick Smith completing the top ten.

Wayne Johnson, Chad Jones, D. Stewart, Toby Brown, Garry Lee Maier, Mike Ward, Tim Crawley and Hockett topped heat race action, with Jan Howard, Kent Buckley, Brian Brown and Marshall Skinner winning the Last Chance races.

Schuerenberg raced past Josh Howard on the ninth round en route to winning the first 12-lap Qualifying Race, with Chris Shirek wiring the field in the second Qualifier. A.G. Rains wired the field in the third Qualifier, with Nick Smith making a last lap pass of Sean McClelland to take the fourth Qualifying Race win.

Ernie Ainsworth, Bill Brian, Jr. and Wade Nygaard each flipped in heat race action, with Jerrod Hull getting upside down in his Qualifying Race. There were no injuries.

A total of 91 different drivers competed in the 18th Annual Team Affiliated Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires at Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway.

RESULTS Locked in from Thursday and Friday Qualifying Features: #21p Daryn Pittman, #01 Tim Montgomery, #41 Jason Johnson, #14x Shane Stewart, #9 Gary Wright, #1k Kevin Swindell.

Heat Races – Top 32 in Finishing/Passing Points to Four Qualifying Races; Balance of Field to Four Last Chance Races.

First Heat (10 Laps): 1. #14aj Wayne Johnson, 2. #86 Eric Schrock, 3. #40r Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 4. #35 Hunter Schuerenberg, 5. #66 Kenny Taylor, 6. #2L Dusty Ballenger, 7. #7m Kevin Ramey, 8. #8h Joey Moughan, 9. #42 Nathan Benson, 10. #4h Jimmy Hurley.

Second Heat (10 Laps): 1. #40J Chad Jones, 2. #29T Travis Rilat, 3. #21c Joey Montgomery, 4. #15b Jim Bowden, 5. #71 Robert Bell, 6. #74e Claud Estes, 7. #44d Donny Howard, 8. #60 Eric Sandage, 9. #1g Cody Gardner. Disqualified: #21r Raymond Stull (unsportsmanlike conduct).

Third Heat (10 Laps): 1. #91 Darren Stewart, 2. #29m Tim Moss, 3. #87JR Steven Tiner, 4. #R19 Scott Winters, 5. #21T Kent Lewis, Jr., 6. #1* Kent Buckley, 7. #3s Arlen Stewart, 8. #77 Andy Goin, 9. #50 Jerrod Hull, 10. #94a Ernie Ainsworth.

Fourth Heat (10 Laps): 1. #61a Toby Brown, 2. #0 Wade Oliver, 3. #29h Pete Butler, 4. #57x Jake Peters, 5. #42s Josh Baker, 6. #21b Brian Brown, 7. #2m Bryce Vowan, 8. #55 Lyle Howey III, 9. #33h Mark Huddleston, 10. #11y Don Young.

Fifth Heat (10 Laps): 1. #11x Garry Lee Maier, 2. #4T Justin Sturch, 3. #17w Brad Welborn, 4. #40g Clint Garner, 5. #3 A.G. Rains, 6. #B29 Adam Mason, 7. #12x Robbie Standridge, 8. #00 Bill Brian, Jr., 9. #7c Chris Morgan, 10. #5J Sean Jones.

Sixth Heat (10 Laps): 1. #88 Mike Ward, 2. #18b Tony Bruce, Jr., 3. #1J Lewis Jenkins, Jr., 4. #44r Ronny Howard, 5. #15h Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 6. #12T Joe Young, 7. #11p Preston Peebles II, 8. #18c Scott Bolden, 9. #11T Bennie Chesteen, 10. #4am Travis Jenkins.

Seventh Heat (10 Laps): 1. #87 Tim Crawley, 2. #15s Nick Smith, 3. #1x Sean McClelland, 4. #46 Jan Howard, 5. #45 Josh Howard, 6. #38 Rick Pringle, 7. #32 Garry Bell, 8. #4x Josh Lofton, 9. #40x Scott Box, 10. #9x Wade Nygaard.

Eighth Heat (10 Laps): 1. #75 Jesse Hockett, 2. #59 Dex Eaton, 3. #1s Chris Shirek, 4. #94c Stephen Chevallier, 5. #47x Louie Carufel, 6. #26 Marshall Skinner, 7. #65 Skip Wilson, 8. #5L Eric Lutz, 9. #47 Dale Howard, 10. #13m John Carney, Jr.

Last Chance Races – Top 4 Finishers to tail of the Four Qualifying Races.

First Last Chance Race (10 Laps): 1. #46 Jan Howard, 2. #21T Kent Lewis, Jr., 3. #11p Preston Peebles II, 4. #38 Rick Pringle, 5. #74e Claud Estes, 6. #11T Bennie Chesteen, 7. #18c Scott Bolden, 8. #44d Donny Howard, 9. #42 Nathan Benson. DNS: #60 Eric Sandage, #94a Ernie Ainsworth, #9x Wade Nygaard.

Second Last Chance Race (10 Laps): 1. #1* Kent Buckley, 2. #42s Josh Baker, 3. #3s Arlen Stewart, 4. #1g Cody Gardner, 5. #2L Dusty Ballenger, 6. #94c Stephen Chevallier, 7. #77 Andy Goin, 8. #40x Scott Box, 9. #11y Don Young, 10. #4x Josh Lofton. DNS: #32 Garry Bell, #13m John Carney, Jr.

Third Last Chance Race (10 Laps): 1. #21b Brian Brown, 2. #7m Kevin Ramey, 3. #50 Jerrod Hull, 4. #66 Kenny Taylor, 5. #47 Dale Howard, 6. #2m Bryce Vowan, 7. #55 Lyle Howey III, 8. #47x Louie Carufel, 9. #65 Skip Wilson, 10. #5L Eric Lutz. DNS: #5J Sean Jones.

Fourth Last Chance Race (10 Laps): 1. #26 Marshall Skinner, 2. #44r Ronny Howard, 3. #12T Joe Young, 4. #12x Robbie Standridge, 5. #8h Joey Moughan, 6. #4h Jimmy Hurley, 7. #71 Robert Bell, 8. #4am Travis Jenkins, 9. #33h Mark Huddleston. DNS: #00 Bill Brian, Jr., #7c Chris Morgan.

Pack’s Dash for Cash – Finishing Order Determines Front Three Rows of “A” Feature.

Pack’s Dash for Cash (6 Laps – Starting position in parentheses): 1. #41 Jason Johnson (1), 2. #9 Gary Wright (4), 3. #01 Tim Montgomery (2), 4. #1k Kevin Swindell (3), 5. #14x Shane Stewart (6), 6. #21p Daryn Pittman (5).

Qualifying Races – Top 12 in Combined Points from Heats & Qualifiers to “A” Feature.

First Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. #35 Hunter Schuerenberg, 2. #45 Josh Howard, 3. #40r Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 4. #86 Eric Schrock, 5. #46 Jan Howard, 6. #88 Mike Ward, 7. #29T Travis Rilat, 8. #38 Rick Pringle, 9. #61a Toby Brown, 10. #21T Kent Lewis, Jr., 11. #R19 Scott Winters, 12. #11p Preston Peebles II.

Second Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. #1s Chris Shirek, 2. #87 Tim Crawley, 3. #75 Jesse Hockett, 4. #40J Chad Jones, 5. #1J Lewis Jenkins, Jr., 6. #0 Wade Oliver, 7. #17w Brad Welborn, 8. #4T Justin Sturch, 9. #1g Cody Gardner, 10. #42s Josh Baker, 11. #3s Arlen Stewart, 12. #1* Kent Buckley.

Third Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. #3 A.G. Rains, 2. #29h Pete Butler, 3. #18b Tony Bruce, Jr., 4. #21b Brian Brown, 5. #91 Darren Stewart, 6. #7m Kevin Ramey, 7. #15h Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 8. #87JR Steven Tiner, 9. #59 Dex Eaton, 10. #66 Kenny Taylor, 11. #21c Joey Montgomery, 12. #50 Jerrod Hull.

Fourth Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. #15s Nick Smith, 2. #1x Sean McClelland, 3. #26 Marshall Skinner, 4. #14aj Wayne Johnson, 5. #57x Jake Peters, 6. #11x Garry Lee Maier, 7. #15b Jim Bowden, 8. #12T Joe Young, 9. #12x Robbie Standridge, 10. #44r Ronny Howard, 11. #29m Tim Moss, 12. #40g Clint Garner.

Tenth row of “A” Feature comprised of top two point earners over the three nights of racing that haven’t already qualified: Brian Brown and Jan Howard.

Championship STN “A” Feature.

A Feature (25 Laps – Starting position in parentheses): 1. #01 Tim Montgomery (3) [$16,000], 2. #1k Kevin Swindell (4) [$7,500], 3. #21p Daryn Pittman (6) [$5,000], 4. #41 Jason Johnson (1) [$2,500], 5. #40r Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (8) [$2,100], 6. #9 Gary Wright (2) [$2,050], 7. #14x Shane Stewart (5) [$2,025], 8. #75 Jesse Hockett (10) [$2,000], 9. #91 Darren Stewart (13) [$1,975], 10. #15s Nick Smith (7) [$1,950], 11. #87 Tim Crawley (12) [$1,925], 12. #29h Pete Butler (9) [$1,900], 13. #21b Brian Brown (19) [$1,875], 14. #14aj Wayne Johnson (17) [$1,850], 15. #26 Marshall Skinner (16) [$1,825], 16. #1J Lewis Jenkins, Jr. (14) [$1,800], 17. #46 Jan Howard (20) [$1,800], 18. #1s Chris Shirek (15) [$1,800], 19. #35 Hunter Schuerenberg (11) [$1,800], 20. #86 Eric Schrock (18) [$1,800].

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